1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to heated cabinets for food.
2. Prior Art
Heated cabinets for maintaining food in a heated or warm condition are commonly employed in restaurants, hotels, fast-food franchises, and the like. Typically, the food is prepared or cooked in advance of its serving or sale and then stored in heated cabinets until needed. The cabinets are used to keep the food warm, and often moist, without cooking the food.
In such heater cabinets it is, of course, desirable to maintain all the food in the cabinet at a uniform temperature. Moreover, the temperature of the food in the cabinet should be constant, for example, the temperature should not be effected by the opening and closing of the cabinet door. In a typical application the cabinet door is repeatedly opened and closed, thus making it difficult to maintain the food in the cabinet at a constant, uniform temperature. In some prior art cabinets, hot air is circulated over the food towards the cabinet door. In these cabinets when the door is opened, substantial heat is lost. With the invented cabinet a side-to-side flow is employed along with graduated air outlets to assure uniform, constant temperature within the cabinet.
In some heated cabinets means are not provided for varying the amount of moisture in the cabinet. It is desirable to control the amount of moisture in the heated, circulating air since the ideal moisture level varies from food-to-food. For example, where a crisp food is to be stored, less moisture or no moisture is required, whereas for moist foods substantial amounts of moisture are required. Heated cabinets often employ water pans for adding moisture to the circulating air. These pans are filled at a sink, or the like, and then placed in the cabinet. Water is frequently spilled from these pans during this movement. With the invented cabinet, a baffle member is employed within a water pan to substantially lessen the chance of water spillage; moreover, the baffle member provides control over the amount of moisture absorbed by the circulating air.